Luvdisc Letter
by hyliansage
Summary: [oneshot] Letters can be signs of a strong friendship, perhaps even of platonic affection. But when a picture of a special Pokemon is involved, those same letters can come to mean so much more. Could be interpreted as AshMisty.


Umm... I really don't know why I wrote this. It was just an idea that I got one day, I guess... and out of all the pairings I like, it fit Ash/Misty the best so... yeah... I hope this idea hasn't been done before... I'm not exactly the most frequent visitor to the Pokemon section. If it has, then I really didn't mean to do it on purpose! I just thought it up one day... But then again, I just told you about that, didn't I? Err... Enjoy? And please don't be too mad if you don't like this pairing! T-T I guess you could still interpret it as Misty having a crush on Ash, and Ash just being really clueless.

I guess there'll kinda be spoilers here for the anime, so... BEWARE! HA! This takes place after the two Togepi episodes and after Ash wins his Heat Badge.

Oh and... for those who've never heard of the Pokemon in the title... Pokedex description! :)

Luvdisc - Luvdisc live in shallow seas in the tropics. This heart-shaped Pokemon earned its name by swimming after loving couples it spotted in the ocean's waves.

Misty's personality is based on the one she was showing by the end of Johto, especially evident in "Gotta Catch Ya Later!" and I suppose you can say it's also the one she was depicted with during those two Advanced episodes and all of the specials she was in, but I haven't actually watched those (yet) so yeah... Ash's personality is based on his Advanced self. ::nods:: In other words, what I'm trying to say is that they're not the Ash and Misty of Kanto! Not that there's anything wrong with their personalities then but... eh... ::feels stupid now:: Err... I hope you get what I mean... Misty will be more emotional, and Ash will be a bit more understanding. ::nods::

A line of colons aka ":" equals a scene change, 'K? And thoughts and actual letter contents are in _italics_.

Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon! ::sniff:: Leave me alone... ::sniff::

Luvdisc Letter [One-shot]

"Yours... truly..."

It was nighttime in Cerulean City, a time when the Pokemon of the night freely roamed the streets, a time when the more... unscrupulous denizens of the city participated in more... dodgy activities, a time when Officer Jenny was kept very busy by those same citizens. It was a time when all creatures of the day, human and Pokemon alike, retreated to their warm, cozy beds in their warm, cozy homes, waiting, preparing, sleeping until the sun's first rays shot through their windows early the next morning. However, one of these creatures was rebelling against the rest of the world.

The Gym Leader of Cerulean, the youngest "Sensational Sister," smiled as she held up her handiwork to the bright light emitted by her little Chinchou lamp, admiring the neat lines of handwriting that stretched across the paper. She laid the letter back on her desk, filling a small space she had purposely left blank with her signature.

"There. That should do it for Brock's letter."

Misty stood up from her seat, stretched, and walked to her shelf, picking up another few pieces of stationery as she did so.

"Lessee... I have Max's, May's, Brock's..." she mused out loud, ambling back to her desk.

She tucked her hair behind her ears, but it continued to fall in her face, until she became frustrated enough and tied it in a single side ponytail. Sighing, Misty picked up her pen and prepared to start the long, tedious process of crafting a letter to the densest person in the world, to the Pokemon Master in-training, to the Chosen One, to her best friend... well... best _human_ friend, to the one named... Ash Ketchum.

"Dear Ash," she began, thoughtfully nibbling the tip of her pen once she had written the two words on the top of her piece of stationery.

_No, that sounds too formal for him..._

Annoyed, she crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the wastebasket, grabbing yet another piece of stationery from the pile.

"Hey Ash."

_That sounds better._

Satisfied with the first sentence, she set to her work enthusiastically, letting her pen flow across the paper without a moment's hesitation.

_Hey Ash,_

_It's been a while, hasn't it? How's Pikachu? You better be giving him all the ketchup he wants; you know how much he loves the stuff. How's your Pokemon journey going? Caught any new Pokemon lately? Any new badges? Wait, wait. Lemme guess. None, right? Y'know, Ash, I've heard that one of the Hoenn Gym Leaders specializes in Water-types. Y'better know who to ask if you need help with that one!_

Misty smiled to herself. That last line was rather unnecessary; Ash would never ask for help. He hadn't at the beginning of his journey, and he probably still wouldn't now. But still... she just _had_ to ask; it just felt right. Grinning, she lowered her head and resumed writing.

_You're probably wondering why I'm sending you a letter when I could just send you some email or a message. I really don't know myself, to tell you the truth. I guess it's 'cause you can read letters while you're on the road; you don't have to be in a __Pokemon__Center__. But that's beside the point. My sisters have been really irritating lately; I've been spending more and more time away from the Gym. I know I shouldn't do that, but I just can't stand their complaints sometimes. It's not my fault that they can't use the Gym all the time to practice their shows; a Gym Leader's gotta accept challenges, y'know._

She sighed as a sudden gust of wind rushed through her open window, inviting a light chill into the room. Impatiently, Misty strode to the source of her irritation and shut it tightly, returning to her seat, eager to continue her letter.

_Hey, guess what? Tracey's been coming to visit lately. You'll never believe this, but he's been teaching me how to draw Water Pokemon! I'll put one of my pictures with this letter for you to see. It's actually kinda fun, but it takes up a lot of time. Then again, I guess I have lots of free time on my hands now, now that I'm not traveling any more._

Misty paused for a moment and shut her eyes tightly, trying her best to lock away the feelings of longing that had suddenly pervaded her mind. But there was no way to deny those emotions, and she knew it all too well. Her next words gushed onto the paper like a Hydro Pump from a powerful Blastoise.

_Y'know__ something?__ I miss traveling, Ash. I miss all of the adventures we had together; I miss all of the Pokemon we saw, traveling, just the three of us. You, me, and Brock. It's so boring here at the Gym; all I get to do is accept challenges, train Pokemon, and lounge around. Ha. Would you believe that I actually even miss getting lost and fighting with you? Hard to believe, huh? But it's true; sometimes I miss every little thing that made traveling with you interesting and kinda fun, I guess. And I_

The Gym Leader paused again, pushing the almost finished letter to the sides before her tears could ruin all her hard work. She grabbed a tissue from the box and dabbed her eyes with it, trying her hardest to hold back the tears. Ever since _that_ day, ever since then... her arms had been empty. She had told herself that it was for the best, that there was no other way, but still... still she could not fully overcome the grief of losing something... someone... so very close to her.

_Was this... was this how Ash felt when Butterfree left?_

Misty shook her head forcefully. She would not think of it any longer; she would not mope over it any longer. Ash had been brave after his loss, and she would follow his example. Biting her lower lip, she resumed writing her letter, but only half-aware of the words that appeared on the stationery.

_miss__ Togepi. Ash, I don't think I told you this last time, but I'll tell it to you now. Thank you for being there for me and Togepi. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't tried so hard to protect us. Thank you for being Togepi's_

And at that moment, an image, a particular memory, chose to present itself in her mind. A picture of a white egg, with strange blue and red markings. A picture of a black-haired boy holding that egg. An image of the egg, hatching, in her arms... and an image of a Togetic... flying off into the light of a gateway to its new home as the black-haired boy watched on, standing next to her, together. Just then, in that very instant, she knew the next word she would write, knew exactly how she wanted to end her letter.

_father__, Ash; I'm sure Togepi... no, Togetic thanks you too._

With those words written, Misty sighed with relief, almost involuntarily. Even though she could not fully describe it, the feeling of sorrow, of misery, had completely dissipated. She felt content, happy, almost as if someone had lifted a burden the weight of a Snorlax off her shoulders. And she knew perfectly well who... or what had done it. When she had returned from Hoenn, she had not mentioned her encounter to her sisters, bottling up her emotions, hiding them from everyone, even her Pokemon. They had tried to cheer her up, but it just hadn't worked. But now... now that she had told... no, _written_ someone... someone who she _knew_ would understand... about her feelings, she believed, she _knew_ that she would be distressed no longer.

And without thinking, she finished the letter with a flourish of her pen, adding the words "Love, Misty" to the stationery, and folded the paper, placing it into an open envelope.

From a small box on her desk, she retrieved a pile of papers, all covered with pictures of Water Pokemon. She smiled as she flipped through the drawings, noticing how much she had improved in a relatively short time. And again, without thinking, she pulled a picture from the pile, her favorite picture so far, a simple but well executed drawing of a simple but... special Pokemon, a reddish-brownish, disc-like creature, with a shape that resembled a heart. The fact that the Pokemon was well-known for appearing before couples in love did not even occur to her at that moment.

Misty grinned as she noticed the picture's only obvious fault - she had drawn the mouth of the Pokemon too close to the edge of the paper, but Tracey had said that it gave the drawing more of a... lively touch; the Pokemon looked as if it were trying to swim out of its home.

The Gym Leader of Cerulean took one last fond look at her picture, folded it up and tucked it into the envelope with the letter, wrote an address on the envelope, sealed it, and put it with the others. She then turned off the lamp and crawled into bed, promising herself that she would mail the letters first thing the next morning.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Misty sighed as she watched, through her window, the mailman walk up to the Gym's mailbox. It had been weeks since she had mailed those letters, but the reply she was hoping for had not arrived yet. Both Brock and Max had sent her emails, and May had sent her a letter, written on scented stationery. Though Misty wasn't quite sure why the girl kept things like that around while traveling, she appreciated the quick, but slightly lengthy, reply, even if some of the topics May covered in her letter did not interest the Gym Leader much.

Everyone had replied. Everyone except Ash.

_Should I go get the mail today? Might as well. Maybe..._

Once the mailman had finished his job and driven away, Misty stood up from her seat and headed out the door, strolling along the aquarium-lined passageway, taking her time. For the week after she had received the emails, she had run along those same hallways, eager to see what was in the mail. But her zeal had only rewarded her with May's letter, which, despite providing her with much amusement, was not the one she was truly looking forward to.

_I should have expected this when I wrote that letter; he... he's probably too busy with the Hoenn League to answer a letter from me, but then again, I suppose that that's a good thing._

Choosing to disregard that thought and try to be a bit more optimistic, she sighed once again as she finally reached the mailbox. Turning the key in the lock, Misty steeled herself for the probable deluge of fan mail that would shower her once she opened the hatch. When the flood did not come, she relaxed a bit, reaching into the mailbox and pulling out a bundle of letters, shutting and locking the hatch in swift motions once she had done so. The Gym Leader strode back toward the Gym, shifting through the mail.

_Lessee... fan mail for Violet, fan mail for Daisy, another one for Violet, one for Lily, an ad for some new restaurant, fan mail for all three sisters, fan mail for me..._

Misty continued her cursory examination of the mail as she walked toward the pool, where her sisters were practicing. There wasn't anything that really sparked her interest; they were all either fan mail or ads.

_Knew it... I knew I shouldn't have bothered to go get the mail._

But then, just as she was about to give up on her activity, the handwriting on one particular envelope caught her attention and held it there.

The writing was messy and cluttered, the words spread apart here and then cramped together there. But she could still read it, still understand it. And she knew whose it was, knew perfectly well whom it was from. Dashing to the pool, she dropped off all of the other pieces of mail on a bleacher, not even bothering to take the fan mail addressed to her, not hearing her sisters' questions about her rush.

She ran to her room, shutting the door tightly once she had entered, and plopped down on her bed. The envelope was of the same variety of the one she had received from May, the kind that Pokemon Centers provided for trainers, but Misty barely noticed that detail as she ripped the top off and drew out two pieces of paper. She unfolded the one with the writing first, only slightly registering that the stationery seemed somewhat familiar.

_This... this is MY letter!_

Misty looked at the stationery in her hands, shocked. Why would Ash send her own letter back? Unless...

She quickly turned the paper to the back, and, just as she had suspected, found the same messy handwriting, written in pencil, covering the stationery. Sprawled across her bed, the Gym Leader of Cerulean began to read.

_Hey Mist,_

Despite her slight annoyance at all the troubles she had gone through just to read his letter, she smiled; she hadn't been called that for a long time. Returning to the letter, she continued to peruse the messy handwriting, examining each and every word diligently, attentively.

_Really sorry for the late reply, I wanted to reply to it first thing after I got it, but then I didn't so I kinda forgot about it 'til now. Oh and we ran out of letter paper so I'm just writing on the back of your letter as I read it._

Misty sighed. That would explain the lateness, but at least he finally replied, right? She quickly returned her attention to the letter.

_Yeah, we haven't talked to each other in a while. Pikachu's doing great! He says hello too! Guess what? I got a new Pokemon AND a new badge! I just got the Heat Badge from this Gym Leader called Flannery and I got a new Torkoal too! Now I have another really strong Pokemon on my team!_

Grinning, Misty could think of only one response to Ash's enthusiasm.

_Ah... Typical Ash._

Of course, she was also happy that he had managed to acquire another powerful Pokemon for his team. Knowing him, they were probably already good friends, and from what she had seen, he really did need a Fire-type Pokemon. Well... Torkoal _was_ a Fire-type, wasn't it? Deciding that she would look it up later, she resumed her reading of the letter.

_Really?__ There's a Water-type Gym Leader in Hoenn? No problem! I'll just pull off an awesome victory with Pikachu!_

Again... another answer she had managed to predict. Misty sighed; why did Ash _always _have to be so stubborn? But then again, he _had_ improved... a lot... since his Pewter Gym days, and his stubborn attitude... that was what had made him so special in the first place, was it not? Smiling, she picked up where she left off, thoroughly enjoying what she read.

_Nah.__ Letters are fine. I'd probably get teased by Max and May if I were talking to you on the videophone anyway. But y'know what? Those shows were actually kinda cool, I guess. Especially the one with you as the mermaid! That one was really good! And the Dewgong was awesome!_

Misty felt a faint blush creeping over her cheeks. Even though he had probably enjoyed watching Dewgong more than seeing her perform, she was still flattered that Ash had actually enjoyed the underwater ballet. Choosing to ignore the fact that her face was still slightly red, the Gym Leader of Cerulean returned to her work, not that it really _was_ work.

_Wow! Really? I bet your pictures are really good then 'cause Tracey's teaching you! I'll go look at it after I finish this._

Wondering what Ash would say about her picture, Misty continued to the next section of the letter.

_Yeah, I guess I kinda miss having you around too. I mean, it's great having Max and May around 'cause they're good friends and all, but it's just not the same. But I think it's cool that they look up to me as a big brother! I guess I kinda do miss all the fights we had together too; things can get really boring around here when we're traveling, even though we still get lost all the time, just not as much as we used to with you around. That and May's always wanting to talk about girly stuff and Max is always going on and on about Pokemon info that I'm not even sure I know._

A feeling Misty could not explain welled up inside her, a feeling of immense gratitude, of joy. He missed her... and that was all she had been hoping to hear... to read. She had feared being rejected, being unwanted, had feared that he did not care that she was not there. She had thought that he had seemed somewhat dismayed by her departure the day they all separated, but now she knew how he felt, how he felt about her. And that knowledge alone made her happy beyond belief. With this feeling of contentment fresh on her mind, she began reading the final section of the letter.

_I know how you feel, Misty. I'm pretty sure I felt the same way too when Butterfree left. But you always have to look ahead and know that if you always remember Togetic then Togetic will always remember you too. You don't need to thank me. It kinda was my duty, I guess, me being the one who actually found Togepi first! Oh, I get it! That's why I'm Togepi's dad! Y'know something? You were a great mom to Togepi, Misty. Couldn't have chosen anyone better and I'll bet that Togetic thinks so too._

The Gym Leader paused once she had finished, her heart completely free of sorrow, of grief. And she could think of two words and only two words, which she whispered quietly to herself.

"He understands."

She looked back to the letter in her hands, but before she folded it up, she took one last look at his signature, noticing the postscript under it.

_Ash_

_PS: I wrote on your picture too!_

Eagerly, Misty retrieved the other piece of paper that had been sitting in the envelope. It was the picture, _her_ picture, the picture that she had sent Ash. But as she slowly unfolded the paper, she found something that she did not expect, would not have expected. Roughly taped right next to her drawing, was another sheet of paper, on which was yet another picture, drawn so close to the edge that it was touching hers.

The lines were rough and uneven; the proportions were completely off. But she could still tell what it was supposed to be, what the artist had meant for it to be.

It was a... Luvdisc.

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A/N: Ehhh... I hope that turned out OK... T-T No flames, please... Even though it's a one-shot... I'll still edit it if anyone's personalities turned out REALLY messed-up...


End file.
